Post by mnementh on Sept 22, 2023 9:35:12 GMT -8
SKAGEN 809XLTTM, Circa 2010.
Features: 40mm x 9mm, Titanium case/band, Sapphire Glass crystal, Day/Date/24-Hour subdials and lume hands/hours on carbon fiber dial.
I recently received this watch from a Mercari listing; took a gamble because of price and was very pleasantly surprised when it arrived. The only real flaws I could spot were a few faint "slightly shiny spot" mark on proud edges of the bezel and case. Otherwise the crystal is pristine and band is almost perfect.
It wasn't until I tried to take a closeup pic of the watch and couldn't get the camera to focus on the dial that I discovered why it had been put up for sale; there was a very noticeable (at the right angle) haze like cigarette smoke on the inside of the crystal. As the watch itself smells like nothing but anodized metal, I'm pretty sure it's not nicotine, but I know that resin materials like carbon fiber do out-gas during their lives, so that's my best educated guess for a cause.
I weighed my options on this; I know the correct solution is to completely disassemble, pop the crystal and clean it all bit by bit... but I also know just how likely I am to damage/break a crystal just by being a incredible klutz; the odds are ag'in me, so I avoid such work unless it absolutely needs to happen.
So, to minimize risk exposure, I decided to first trying cleaning the lens with bits of chamois. This is a technique I developed for working on test equipment, where often removing the lens from the bezel or instrument chassis is difficult or impossible without damaging it.
My usual process on glass and most clear plastics is to clean first with Windex on a swab, then dry with another until it all looks clean; then I'll fog the glass by breathing on it and polish that again with more clean swabs to ensure no residue from the glass cleaner.
I also make little cleaning swabs by gluing strips of chamois to bent scraps of metal or popsicle sticks; but in this case, I was hoping to sneak a bit of the chamois between the crystal and chapter ring, so only the thickness of the chamois was possible; this is why you seem me polishing here with tweezers holding a square of chamois rolled up like a taco.
Here's the guts back together; It uses a Miyota 6P29 commodity movement, so whatever steel is in there is actually Japanese Steel.
There's a lot of "little bits of clever engineering" in this watch that I do quite like; here you can see recessed slots stamped into the mesh band for the clasp. It has a bar which presses into those, so there actually is positive engagement, making the double-lever safety clasp not just a pointless waste of effort.
And here's the "glam shot".
IRL those stamped slots in the mesh are not visible from the top; the camera managed to pick them up in this, the only shot which really shows another clever engineering bit I really like. That is the way there's a ridge stamped into the band which continues the contour of the front and bezel. Very "bespoke" look and feel. Here you can also see the double-safety clasp.
Here's the obligatory closeup of the dial; now that I can actually get my camera to focus on it.
Those scuffs on the proud areas are not nearly as prominent as this pic suggests, the camera always sees things differently. That dial is actual carbon fiber, not a print; you can see it from the back. It is very thin; maybe 0.20-0.40mm. Quite nicely realized.
I did notice a couple short fibers of lint after the fact that I didn't evict; I've chosen to live with them rather than risk my klutzness causing irreparable damage.
And here's an egregious lume shot.
Actually not too bad for "subdued lighting and charged up with a LED flashlight". I do really need to find my UV inspection light, though; see how that brings out the glow for photos in ambient light.
Hope you enjoyed me gushing like a manga star over my new acquisition; if not, well I can live with that too.
mnem
*egregious spot-flare shot*
